1280 to 1289

1280

x - NETHERLANDS Muiden Castle, 10 miles east of Amsterdam, dates to this time.

x - Wu Chen, Chinese painter and master of calligraphy. He also mastered the play of void and presence at the heart of Chinese ink painting. d. 1354

x - German merchants formed the Hanseatic League to facilitate trade.

x - St. Julien-le-Pauvre was built in Paris.

x - Germany ? A spinning wheel invented in China ?+ was demonstrated in Speyer.

x - Liu Guandao, court painter, depicted the Mongol ruler Kubilai Khan hunting on a sandy, windswept landscape.

x - Marco Polo visited the country of ZiambaViet-Nam. He noted that the king had 326 children, and that it was the custom for all young women to be proved by the king before being given in marriage. Marco noted the bounty of elephants, lignum-aloes, and black ebony.

1281

x - Mongols driven away from Japan by kamikaze, the divine wind

x - The second Mongol attempt to conquer Japan. Mongols invade Japan again but are foiled again by kami-kaze typhoon

1282

x - Andronicus II Papaeologus became ruler over Byzantium.s.330c0000

x - The Mafia appeared in Sicily to revolt against French rule after a drunken soldier attacked a young woman on her wedding day.

x - Italy Watermarks are added to paper.

mar 31 - The great massacre of the French in Sicily, "The Sicilian Vespers," came to an end.

apr 28 - Villagers in Palermo led a revolt against French rule in Sicily.

1283

x - Conquest of Wales completed.

x - Germany ? The Marksburg Castle was built by the Katzenelbogans to defend the silver and lead mines of Braubach.

1284

x - England The eldest son of Edward I became the Prince of Wales.

apr 25 - Edward II, king of England ?+, was born.

1285

c - Dante ?* Alighieri marries Gemma di Manetto Donati.

x - Tournament at Chairvency.

may 10 - Philip IV (Fair) succeeded Philip III as King of Spain.

1286

x - Tartar Chief Nayan, kinsman of Kublai, attempted to gain independence from the grand-khan, and a war ensued.

x - Emperor Rudolph I abrogated the political freedom of Jews and imposed on them special taxes. Rabbi Meir Ben Baruch (aka Maharam), head of the Jewish community in Rothenburg, tried to lead group of Jews to Palestine but was arrested and confined in an Alsatian fortress. He refused to be freed for ransom and died in prison. The Jews of Rothenburg were then re-expelled to a ghetto beyond the city walls.

x - Arghun, son of Abaga - lord of the east, engaged and defeated the army of Kaidu under Kaidu's brother, Barac, in the plain of the Arbor Secco by the river Ion. Abaga died shortly after and Arghun was force to fight his uncle, the Acomat Soldan, who claimed succession. Arghun was initially defeated and captured, but escaped with the help of the Tartar baron Boga. They gathered forces and slew the melik Soldan, who was in charge of Acomat's army. Later Acomat was captured and slain.

1287

x - The forces of Kublai Khan + overran Burma.

1288

x - Marco Polo related that the Christian King of Abascia (or Abyssinia) in Middle India ?+ decided to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but was dissuaded by his advisors. In his place he sent a bishop, who upon returning through Aden was picked up by the soldan of Aden and urged to become a Mohametan. The bishop refused and was forcefully circumcised. This later led to a war in which the Abyssinian king took the city of Aden and gave it up to pillage.

x - The Scottish Parliament passed a Leap Year Act whereby women could propose to men. The tradition had begun in the 300's Ireland ?+.

x - Kublai Khan + was described by Marco Polo as being 85 years old and having reigned for 42 years. This would put his rule to begin in 1246.